Level of Occupational Stress and Stress Management in School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Occupational stress is an important factor in teachers' motivation and retention. This is supported by Farber's Theory of Burn Out which states that people who are stressed are often irritable, anxious, and angry. This means being stressed due to excessive workload may mean planning lessons less enthusiastically and feeling less sympathetic towards pupils. Due to this, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued DepEd Advisory No. 257, s. 2012 which discusses managing conflict and stress. This made the researchers conduct this study to know the level of occupational stress among teachers in San Roque Elementary School to help them manage their stress.

METHODS

The researchers made use of a descriptive research design. The main tool used in this study was a questionnaire adopted from the occupational stress index questionnaire developed by Srivastava and Singh (2009). The scale intent to measure the extent of stress which employees perceived from various constituents and conditions of their job. The result of the survey will become a basis for how the school could help manage stress among teachers. Using a purposive sampling technique, the researchers used 19 teachers from San Roque Elementary School to participate in the study because this is the school where the researcher is teaching. Simple descriptive statistics like frequency, distribution, and percentage were used in treating data.

RESULTS

The research shows that 78.95% or 15 of the teacher respondents have a moderate level of occupational stress and the remaining 21.05% or 4 teacher respondents have low occupational stress. This means that more teachers have moderate occupational stress in school, and this also means that someone should help them in managing their stress to avoid reaching a high level of occupational stress.

DISCUSSIONS

After gathering and interpreting data the researchers recommend that there should be a seminar for the teacher for gaining more knowledge to equip them with necessary skills in handling stress. The future seminar should also tackle time management since all teachers have many tasks to do so that they will avoid cramming. Stress will also be reduced in the workplace if higher authorities do care for the self-respect of teachers, if their suggestions are heard, if they are rewarded, and if their ability is being utilized.